Sting Like A Butterfly!
by Aura Break
Summary: During the Battle of the Citadel, the Council should have been lost. The sudden arrival of three mysterious strangers changed that, and many more events yet to come.


Sting Like A Butterfly!

JSB: We are silly, silly people for even considering this idea. Oh well. What else could we do? Mass Effect needs more Super Robots.

Xero: Well, bigger ones anyways. Legion's pretty Super.

Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to Mass Effect or Super Robot Wars: Original Generations. Those belong to Bioware and Atlus America respectively. In this Nation anyways.

(-)

"Commander, you can't be serious!" Jeffrey Moreau, or Joker as most called him, yelled at the communication screen. Despite wanting to beat his hands against the armrests, he controlled himself out of knowledge that he'd likely just break his arms if he did. Sure, it was true that the council was a bunch of jerks, but that didn't mean that they should abandon them. Not when they could do something about it.

"You heard me, Joker. We need all the fire power we can get to take out Soveriegn." The voice over the communication channel stated sternly, though he didn't sound particularly pleased himself. "We can't risk not being able to destroy him in time."

The talented pilot sighed in resignation. He still didn't like it, but the commander had a point. A few moments passed before he responded with his affirmation that he understood the orders he'd been given. "Alright, Commander."

Joker could only shake his head as Admiral Hackett made the announcement to the rest of the Alliance ships. Commander Shepard had done some amazing things, and had always got the job done without losing many lives. But it seemed Sovereign was far too powerful for them to take any chances.

He frowned, glancing at the displays showing the Geth ships tearing the Citadel's fleets apart. Even though they had a sizable force here, the defense of the Citadel was looking hopeless. For probably the only time, he really wished the Normandy was a more battle-worthy ship so he could actually go in there and fight. Unfortunately, The Normandy just didn't have the firepower to make much of a difference in this kind of battle. But things like that had never stopped him before, and it was better than waiting around watching people get killed.

The pilot paused, frowning even more, when he received another hail from the Destiny Ascension. He grimaced, knowing it was them asking for assistance again. He reluctantly ignored it, closing the channel.

"I hope this doesn't bite us in the ass, Shepard." Joker muttered under his breath, turning his attention fully onto the battle.

(-)

If the fight for the Citadel seemed hopeless, the situation aboard the Destiny Ascension was much more so. The spray of enemy fire meeting the faint blue shield, this time followed by a chaotic fluctuation before fading out of existence, only cemented that feeling.

"I repeat, the Destiny Ascension is under heavy fire!" One of the crew shouted frantically, broadcasting the message over their communications in an increasingly futile attempt to hail anyone they could. "The council is on board!"

"The Alliance fleet isn't responding to us..." Another crew member muttered in dismay. "And the Geth are attacking too heavily for anyone to reach us."

Those on board fell silent, another wave of Geth ships swinging around to finish off the heavily battered ship. They braced themselves, some closing their eyes while others simple watched for the inevitable death that was approaching. However, much to the surprise of those who kept their eyes open, the enemy ships suddenly veered off course. It was odd, like something had suddenly got their attention. They didn't even seem to be under attack anymore.

It wasn't until a Geth dropship hurtled into view, exploding in a fiery mess, that they saw why. A strange object had slammed into the dropship and ripped it apart, seeming none the worse off for being caught in the resulting blast. Their eyes were glued to the screen, only managing to catch the color red before it vanished off screen again. A hail of energy followed, beams that seemed to originate from around the Destiny Ascension itself despite them being unable to detect anything as there. The red beams took out countless ships, cleaving a pocket of safety around them.

Murmurs of confusion spread throughout the ship, the suddenness of their salvation halting any sense of relief for the time being. Whatever had come to their aid, they couldn't tell what it was. While the ship was admittedly in bad condition, the object was far to small and fast for them to get a visual before it would vanish and appear just as briefly somewhere else.

"What in the hell was that?" Someone finally managed to vocalize the ship-wide sentiment.

"Get us farther away from the battle while we're clear!" The Asari commanding the ship ordered, the war still being fought around them finally registering. "And someone figure out whatever, and whoever, that was."

The massive ship spluttered to life weakly, it's engines barely functioning. Thankfully, it was enough to get them to a safer spot to observe from. The Destiny Ascension's crew finally relaxed enough to feel relief over their survival. They still had no idea what had caused it, but it was enough to be alive for the time being. The battle had seemed hopeless, yet it was swiftly turning around. No doubt the arrival of the Alliance vessels attempting to retake the Citadel shared some of the credit, but it was clear that the largest contributor was whatever had rescued them.

The Geth ships were being annihilated, as unable to fight back as many of the Turian, Asari, and other allied ships were unable to keep up with the pace of whoever or whatever had only moments ago saved the Destiny Ascension, and as a result the Council as well. While they could easily see where said savior had been thanks to the flashes of bright energy tearing through Citadel Space being easy to spot, their sources were not. The only thing that was for certain, was that it or they were much smaller then a ship. One of them was, rather literally, tearing through the enemy without concern for any retaliation the Geth managed to land on it. Another was weaving around at a fast pace, though not nearly as swiftly as the whatever was responsible for the hail of energy.

"Commander, there's an unknown channel being picked up." One of the communications operatives informed, sounding perplexed. "I don't recognize the frequency, it seems to be using an outdated technology... But I may be able to decrypt it."

"Why would they be using outdated communications, but be able to do something like this?" The commander muttered, shaking her head in confusion. "Decrypt it if you can, then. Hopefully we can listen in and figure something out about these things."

The sudden blaring of loud music, a rather upbeat song none of them had ever heard before, caught everyone off guard. For a moment the communications operative wondered if she had somehow opened up a link to some form of music station, frantically double checking to make sure she hadn't. Those fears were put to rest as voices came in, attempting to speak over the song.

"Ms. Excel, would you please not broadcast your music across communications. I can hardly concentrate on dodging fire, much less attack." A female voice requested.

"But Lami, you know I need this playing to fight at my best. Besides, Kyosuke likes it. Don't you, Kyo-chan?" Another female voice responded energetically.

"Not really." A male voice answered.

"Aww, but Kyosuke, it's like, 'Our' song!" The energetic woman pouted. "It fits perfect with our 'Love-Love Attack'!"

"I thought we agreed that was not the name of the attack," The male commented.

The crew on the Destiny Ascension could only stare in confusion at what they were hearing. Was this a joke? Surely this wasn't coming from the people piloting those things.

"Come on Kyosuke, work with me here." The woman pleaded for a moment, switching to a threat when that failed. "Fine, I'll just go make a 'Love-Love Attack' with Lami. How would you feel about that?"

"Ms. Excel, I think that would be a bad idea. I would never be able to match your timing." The first female voice responded seriously.

"You guys are no fun. I wish Bullet were here, he'd humor me." The energetic woman sighed.

"No he wouldn't. You'd just get him killed by distracting him." The man countered.

"That was harsh! Meanie!" The woman cried dramatically, but seemed to get over it almost instantly with a giggled agreement. "Bullet never did learn to keep his cool."

The crew could hardly believe what they were hearing. It would be one thing if it was a casual conversation over some kind of sport, but this was a battle with the fate of Galactic Civilization determined by the outcome. There was no way people that acted like this could possibly be the ones saving their lives, not to mention obliterating the Geth forces far more efficiently than their own had been doing. There must be some mistake. Clearly the Alliance was playing a cruel, cruel joke on them by broadcasting fake transmissions. That had to be it.

"Hail them. I want to speak with these... Pilots." The commander ordered, having some difficulty calling them that.

"Ma'am, I'd have to send it through the same frequency we had received. It may not work properly." The commander nodded at her, indicating they should try anyways, and she set about her task. After a few moments passed in silence, the officer nodded back at the commander. The Asari cleared her throat, trying to get into her usual authoritative mindset, before speaking.

"This is the commander of the Destiny Ascension. Please Respond."

"Excellen! Turn off the music, we're getting a message." The voice of the man demanded suddenly. That was a good sign at least, the transmission seemed to be working fine.

"Aww, I was just getting into it too..." The energetic woman whined, shooting down another Geth dropship at the same time. The loud music cut out shortly after, the Asari Commander sighing in relief. That music had started to grate on her nerves a bit.

"This is Lieutenant Kyosuke Nambu of the Earth Defense Force. How can I help you?" The man asked seriously, the formal response catching the commander by surprise for a moment.

"Earth Defense Force?" The commander repeated with mild confusion. That was odd, Earth was the Human home world. Their Military was called the Alliance, so why would they identify as something else? "You're with the Alliance then?"

"Alliance? I don't remember any group named that back home." The energetic female puzzled for a moment. "There's EDF, DC, Shado-"

"Quiet Excellen." The man interrupted, cutting her off.

"Oops, sorry." The woman giggled.

"...Right." The commander shook her head, glad the transmission didn't have visuals open as well. "If you're with the Alliance, the Destiny Ascension would like to request further aid."

(-)

"Holy hell, am I seeing things or did half the Geth fleet just explode, Admiral?" Joker commented in amazement. Hackett had contacted everyone trying to figure out what was going on once the unexpected, and seemingly friendly, forces had shown up.

"Whatever that is, I'm grateful for it." The admiral replied in his usual, ever-calm tone. At least for the time being it's on our side, so we shouldn't waste our chance to move in."

"I hear that." The pilot of the Normandy nodded in agreement, switching to a different channel for a moment. "Don't mean to interrupt down there, but... Let's just say we've got plenty of help. Think you can crack this badboy open anytime soon?"

"Working on it, Joker!" Shepard's voice responded, accompanied by several rounds being fired and a few explosions in the background.

"Alright, commander, try not to die before then." The pilot replied, letting the commander do his thing without further interruption as he switched back to Hackett's channel. The apparent survival of the Destiny Ascension had lifted his spirits somewhat, as well as the fact that it now looked like they had a pretty good shot at winning this thing. "Shepard's still busy, playing with a rusted cheese grater from the sound of it."

"I see. Hopefully commander Shepard will succeed, his mission is the most vital piece." The Admiral replied. "I wouldn't want to test our fortune by seeing if our new friends can hold off an entire army of those monsters."

(-)

"Oh! Wow! This ship is huge!" The blonde woman commented with childlike awe from inside the cockpit of her white and blue Personal Trooper. The machine, like all PT's, had a humanoid frame. However unlike most, hers had four bat-like wings spreading out behind it. Even the large rifle the PT carried was a bit of an exception, thanks to a tail-like appendage.

"Ms Excel, we don't have the time to admire the...space vessels right now. We have to guard it." A green-haired woman with a serious expression responded from the side display.

"Well, I can't do that if I'm not watching it, can I?" Countered the energetic woman cheerfully. "What do you think, Kyosuke? This thing is pretty big, right?"

"Compared to the Hiryu." The brown haired man, pictured in another side display, offered disinterestedly. "The Hiryu only has to carry PT's, this appears to be meant to hold ships larger than that, so it's normal enough."

"Aww, you're no fun." The woman pouted for a moment before switching to teasing tone. "Don't worry though, Kyosuke. Size isn't everything!"

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Kyosuke questioned, unaffected by the comment.

"That statement is implying that your-" The serious woman started to explain.

"La-mi-a!" The blonde interrupeted with an irritated tone. "Just for that, I'm going to play your music now. The one I got you to sing for!"

"M-Ms. Excellen, that..." Lamia stuttered in surprise momentarily, dispelling her normally calm exterior. Her objection faded off midway through, replaced with a resigned sigh, as she realized the futility of objecting. Excellen being, well, Excellen, squirming would just make her more determined to do whatever it was that she had cooked up. Maybe if she just let the hyperactive blonde woman have her way,, she might escape the situation with some dignity. "If you must."

"Great! Let me just figure out where I put it..." Excellen commented enthusiastically before trailing off. The sound of random murmuring and shuffling about lasted for several moments before a cry of triumph signaled her success. "Ahah, here it is!"

"Would you three PAY ATTENTION TO THE WAR GOING ON!" The commander of the Destiny Ascension interrupted suddenly, eliciting a surprised "eep" from the blonde followed by a thumping sound and a pained "ow". The commander continued in a more even, if still irritated tone. "There's another wave of Geth on the way, likely planning to finish the Destiny Ascension off. Don't let them do any more damage."

"Understood." Kyosuke acknowledged, his PT shifting out of it's relaxed standby position and rocketing forward to intercept the incoming enemy ships up close. Where his companions had sleeker and faster machines, the red machine he piloted defined the word 'impenetrable' thanks to it's heavily armored frame and appearance.

"What are you doing? I said defend the Destiny Ascension!" The commander spoke up, confused as to why he was getting so far away.

"Kyosuke used up all his ammo earlier," Excellen explained, she and the other female taking defensive positions around the battered ship. "At least this way those ships won't last long enough to fire more shots, right?"

"What do you mean? How can he fight if he's out of ammo?" The commander questioned.

"You'll see." The blonde giggled, offering no further explanation.

The Geth ships, detecting the rapidly approaching machine, opened fire on it. The rounds deflected harmlessly off it's armor, doing nothing to impede it's charge and the pilot not bothering to avoid them. The large horn adorning the PT's head slowly brightened, the superheated metal having glowing ominously. With impressive precision and timing, the seemingly invincible red machine tore straight through the ships, the white-hot horn cutting through the ships shields and armor with ease. The mech didn't stop though, cutting through the next ship that was in it's path.

"Well we can't let Kyosuke have all the fun, right Lamia?" Excellen laughed, her PT spinning the rifle around in its hand.

"Ms. Excel, shouldn't we focus on shooting down the enemy projectiles?" Lamia asked, eliciting a smile from the blonde woman.

"I'll leave that to you, Lami. It's better to take them down before they shoot anymore at us!" The engine on the back of the white PT flared to life, the mech shooting forward at an absurd speed.

"Roger." Lamia responded, turning her attention to protecting the Destiny Ascension from further attacks. A bow-like object formed in her angel-like PT's hands, arrow-shaped bolts of energy being fired to intercept the attacks from what few ships managed to get within firing range.

From the bridge of Destiny Ascension, the crew watched in disbelief. Now that the strange machines weren't moving all over the place chaotically, they could actually see what was happening. Unfortunately, that only made it harder to believe.

"This is absurd. Completely absurd." The commander of the ship commented, watching as the angelic machine shot a series of energy arrows. That was a completely absurd weapon, and she was almost certain that any engineer would call it impossible. But yet, there it was.

"At least we're being protected. Otherwise we, and more importantly the council, would be gone." One of the crew stated happily. A sudden movement on her monitor got her attention, drawing her focus away from the absurd machines. "Hold on... The Citadel is opening up again!"

"The Alliance is broadcasting a message now." The communications officer informed, looking toward the commander.

"So _now_ they plan to help us." The commander muttered in annoyance, not exactly pleased at being ignored before. "Put it on."

"This is Admiral Hackett of the Alliance. The wings of the Citadel are being opened, all units attack Sovereign now. We _must_ destroy it while we still have the chance."

The Asari commander nodded her agreement, addressing her crew after the message ended.

"Get this ship turned around, head back to the Citadel!" She commanded.

"Should we inform the three... Alliance Pilots?" The Asari that took care of communications asked, pausing momentarily to find a polite word to assign to the trio of newcomers.

"They might be better used keeping the Geth busy..." The commander paused in thought, trying to determine what the better tactical decision would be. Unfortunately in situations like this one, it required being able to see the future in order to be certain what wouldn't result in being killed. They had, by a stroke of improbable luck, managed to not do so this long, and she wasn't going to be the commander that screwed up and got the entire council killed. "Tell them to move with us towards the citadel, but take care of any Geth that try to follow to closely. We've got to take out the biggest threat the moment we can, with any luck the rest will fall apart and retreat."

The communications officer nodded, opening up the channel to relay the new orders to the strange trio. "We have a chance to attack the enemy commander's ship, continue to cover the Destiny Ascension as we advance towards the Citadel."

"Is that a good idea?" Excellen chirped in response. "One more dent and the Destiny Ascension will need renamed to Destiny Descension."

"Spaceships can't sink, Excellen." Kyosuke noted, purposely poking holes in her attempt to joke around.

"Heheh, true, but Destiny Drift-Slowly-In-Place doesn't have the same ring, y'know?" The blonde giggled.

"Just follow us before it's the Destiny Rusted-To-Death-From-Talking!" The commander snapped, rubbing her forehead slightly. The other two weren't so bad alone, but that one was too... She didn't know what the word was, but there was a serious breach of reality if someone like THAT was so impressively skilled. Then again, maybe it was the... Whatever those were... That were doing all the work.

"Rust occurs as a result of oxi-" Lamia commented, getting cut off as the channel to the Destiny Ascension was shut off. "It would seem the commander of that ship has a short temper."

"Everyone back home just had a long one." Kyosuke shrugged.

(-)

"These shields are just unfair!" Joker complained. After seeing his ship's shots blast against the monstrosity with no effect a few times, he was starting to get annoyed. Sure, the Normandy was fast enough to avoid the counter attacks, but it didn't have the firepower to get through those barriers. Apparently nobody else was having any luck either. It was rather frustrating, since many of the Alliance's ships would get destroyed from just one sweep of the Reaper's lasers and that just made it more unlikely the remaining would be able to overpower it's Mass Effect Shields.

The Normandy swooped past the giant squid-like ship, getting ready for another pass. Sovereign let loose another sweeping laser, but it was easily avoidable for an Ace Pilot like he was. Unfortunately, Joker grimaced as another Alliance ship was cleaved in two, that wasn't true for everyone else. This was not working very well.

"Joker, we've got two unknown signals heading this way at ridiculous speeds." The panicked voice of one the Normandy's crewman alerted.

"You're kidding. I didn't think the Geth had anything that fast." Before he could say anymore, two machines sped past him. All he really made out was that one was red, while the other was white. Not far behind the other two was an angelic looking robot, wings spread wide.

"No way!"

"Joker, do you know what those are?" Admiral Hackett asked in confusion. The young pilot could only smirk. He would really love to seethe look on both the Admiral's and Shepard's face. Well, assuming Shepard wasn't still too busy to notice anyways.

"They look like giant robots to me, sir." It was incredibly hard for Joker not to start cracking up, but he held it in and kept a straight face.

"Giant...Robots?"

"You know...'Rocket Punch' or 'Broken Magnum' or even 'Shining Finger'! Those kind of giant robots!" Joker yelled out the names of fictional attacks, even doing some of the movements along with them, catching the eyes of some of the crewman on the Normandy.

"Joker, what are you talking about?" The Admiral didn't seem to get the joke. Man, how old was that guy? Stuff like that had been pretty popular for a long time.

"Admiral, those were all the rage back in flight school. The trainees could only dream of piloting something like that."

"Joker! Now is not the time for fiction!" Admiral Hackett yelled in irritation, causing Joker to wince. Apparently the Admiral couldn't take a joke.

"But sir, what are those then?" Joker stated, indicating the two machines that had passed him and were heading straight for Sovereign. The red one, the horn on its head glowing white-hot, stopped in its tracks as it struck against the huge, hand-like ship's barrier. The thrusters on its back continued to let out emissions, trying to push the bulky machine through its foe, with little success. The Angelic one was trying something else, keeping a bit of distance and... Was it shooting energy arrows with a giant tech-bow? Wow, that was almost as bad as the stuff in those old shows he used to watch. Meanwhile the white machine, far lighter looking than the other two, kept zipping about chaotically. With the speed it was moving, changing directions like that should have been impossible.

"Geez, just looking at that thing move is giving me whiplash." Joker shook his head, amazed at the maneuverability of the white 'giant robot.' Sure, he was the best damn pilot in the galaxy, but that display would take some serious technology AND skill to not plow into the nearest brick wall.

"I don't envy the explanation whoever owns those things is going to have to give," Hackett commented. "Keeping super weapons like this hidden is against Citadel policy... But I'm glad we have them here, at least."

The red mecha continued its attempts to ram through the barrier, only bothering to avoid the more potent of Sovereign's attacks that would occasionally be directed at it. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be making any progress after countless attempts. That barrier seemed to just be flat-out impenetrable.

"This barrier is an issue." Kyosuke noted, pausing to examine the enemy ship closer for any kind of hint how to get to the actual parts he could damage. It reminded him of the Aerogators, aesthetically anyways, now that he stopped to look at it. Those other ships did in a way to, but those were more of a generic 'alien' design, like in some cheesy sci-fi movie. "Any luck?"

The white mecha unloaded another few blasts at the giant squid-ship, the beams dispersing harmlessly against the shield. "Weissy doesn't have enough punch to break through either, Kyosuke." The pilot informed, scratching her head in thought. So far there was a veritable army wailing on this thing and they couldn't even knock down it's shields. "Lami's less delicate, but she doesn't seem to be able to either..."

"Affirmative." The woman in question confirmed, having just given up her own attempts at breaking the seemingly unbreakable barrier. "Without knowing how this barrier is being powered, I cannot determine what the best course to disarming it would be."

"So everyone uses up all their ammo and goes home?" Excellen frowned exaggeratedly. "That's a lame way to end a war."

"The enemy's hand is too great, it seems" Kyousuke commented, making sure his mech moved out of the way of enemy fire. "Guess it's time to play our trump card."

"Are you sure you should use the last of our ammo on this, Lt. Kyousuke? This isn't exactly our fight." Lamia commented.

"It'll be fine Lami," Excellen smirked. "Besides, nothing can stand in the way of our 'Love-Love Attack'! Right Kyousuke?" The woman gushed, almost causing him to drop his poker face. Sometimes it was extremely tough the deal with her. However, before he could make a response, the large ship began to spark. Red lines of electricity coursed through its entire body as it's shield suddenly failed, letting go of the pillar it was latched onto and drifting slowly away.

The three paused in surprise, the other ships that surrounded the behemoth opening fire with everything they had. The pilots had to quickly move back, lest they get caught in the crossfire.

"A little warning would have been nice!" Excellen complained before readying her rifle and firing at the monstrosity. Explosions littered the squid-like ship's body as every ship in range continued to fire at it. Considering how many attacks it was taking all at once, it didn't take long for the giant ship to break apart in a large explosion. By the end, all that remained of the nigh-invincible warship were several large pieces floating lifelessly around the citadel.

The fleets assembled all broadcasted victorious cries of joy and relief. While many set to securing a perimeter and fighting off the remaining Geth forces, there was little need. With Sovereign lost, the Geth had retreated almost before the dust had settled. That was something they couldn't help, as the forces of the citadel races were in no position to mount a pursuit despite their victory, but it was enough that they had won.

"The Citadel survived." The commander of the Destiny Ascension sighed in relief. Turning to the pilot, she ordered them to dock as quickly as possible, both to ensure the safety of the council and because the ship could literally suffer a critical failure at any moment. She would rather the Geth had killed them than to die in such a stupidly pointless way as that. "Get a repair crew ready. They're going to be getting a lot of overtime."

"Commander, how should we deal with those three?" One of the Asari asked, indicating the three machines that had saved them. They were apparently of the Alliance, so they'd probably be able to deal with it. On the other hand, this was clearly secret super weapon class stuff, and with the Alliance's political behavior as of late, that didn't bode well for what they had meant to use them for. Not that any of the races had particularly friendly politics, but the Alliance had been very aggressive and nobody really had a good feel for the Humans yet. Certainly not enough to risk them abusing this kind of situation, anyways.

Rubbing her head to stave off the migraine that formed just by thinking about the nightmarish chaos of politics and paperwork that was bound to happen, the commander just waved a hand exasperatedly. "Just tell the Alliance the Council will want to speak with them, it's their problem after that."

On the plus side, while being a commander could be difficult during battles, the aftermath usually had nothing she had to deal with personally. Unless somebody blew up a moon anyways. Which meant she could just go hit a bar in the celebration and forget about the fight and those insane pilots.

Outside the ship, who had returned to hanging around it for lack of a more apparent course of action, the three Personal Trooper Pilots took the first moment they had to actually look around since their arrival.

"So, where do you think we are, anyways?"

(-)

"The Council has called all of you here to discuss the aftermath of Saren's attack on the citadel." The Asari council member spoke from her spot overlooking everyone summoned to the impromptu meeting, as the the Council Chambers were still undergoing repairs and checks to make sure they were safe. They weren't even in the Tower, instead having gathered outside in the Imperium. Although the three council members were accompanied by far more guards than usual, they had managed to simulate the feel of most council meetings by making use of the raised walkways as a makeshift pedestal of sorts, the crowd all watching from below.

"First, we would like to address Commander Shepard's mission and involvement." The Salarian council member continued from beside the Asari, motioning for the aforementioned commander to step forward.

"Saren's attack from inside the Citadel was stopped thanks to you, Shepard. As much as we were... Concerned about making a Human a Spectre, it seems we made the right choice after all." The Turian council member noted curtly, sounding rather displeased.

"It wouldn't have gotten that far if you'd had a little faith earlier, and investigated Saren instead of just taking his word for it." The commander replied sternly. The Council had, to be honest, been largely useless in the whole ordeal. If they hadn't been so stubborn at the beginning, when the initial charges against Saren were brought up, none of this would have happened. Or at the least they would have had a head start in stopping him, instead of only barely making it in time. He didn't expect them to take serious action without evidence, but considering the severity of what happened, them brushing it under the rug was simply too stupid for him to let go easily.

"Faith is something given to someone who has proven reliable." The Turian responded lowly.

"What has passed, has passed." The Asari council member interrupted, pulling the meeting back on track. "However, in light of your efforts, the council has decided that it may be time for Humanity to stand among us. As both a Spectre and the one who saw what Saren had become, we are allowing you, Shepard, to recommend who shall stand as the representative of humanity within the Council."

"Ooh, someone's getting promoted?" Excellen chirped quietly from the side, though not quietly enough if the slight glances everyone shot at her was any indication. "Wonder what the pay is like."

"Political figures of notable stature often receive large salaries, as reflection of their status and compensation for the duties they are tasked with." Lamia responded in her usual matter-of-fact tone, though much more quietly than the excitable blonde's random comment.

"Quiet, or I'll dock your pay." Kyosuke interjected, though the slightest smirk betrayed his otherwise serious demeanor.

"Eh? But we don't even know where our bosses are! Where would you get the money?" Excellen blinked, taking the joke at face value.

"Looks like your paycheck is suspended, then." Kyosuke replied coolly, though that was a somewhat concerning thought now that it was brought up. Not something they should concern themselves with at the moment, but it would need dealt with sooner or later until they could figure out how to reconnect with the rest of their crew. If they even could, that is. He had a bad feeling that they were a long way from home.

While that was going on, Commander Shepard had been silently contemplating the choice he was being given. The obvious choice was Udina, since he was an ambassador and well versed in politics. It was also the choice Udina would scream for if he lacked what little dignity he had. Except Udina was the most selfish, angry, and frankly undiplomatic person he'd run into. Even the random mercenaries were more eloquent on occasion. That coupled with the fact that the man didn't seem to have his priorities straight, far more concerned with his own status and how things reflected on his image than anything else... Well, it made the decision rather easy for the commander once he'd thought it over.

"I recommend Captain Anderson. He's a good man. Having him on the Council would be beneficial to everyone."

Two of the people in attendance, both men who were in their later years, blinked in surprise. One in brief confusion, while the other's face contorted in comical frustration. It's been said that Ambassador Udina resembled a tomato when people got under his skin enough, but at this moment the aged man was on the verge of inventing a new shade of red entirely.

"Are you sure about this, Shepard?" The one currently stable enough to form a coherent sentence asked quietly. "I'll do it, but I'm no politician. Udina might be better for the job."

"I agree with Anderson." The one closer to nuclear meltdown added with a hiss that was clearly a barely contained yell.

"Captain, you not being a politician is why you'd be good at it." Shepard explained briefly, giving his former superior an encouraging nod. "We need someone with the perspective you have running things. Look what happened today."

"You have a point, Shepard." Anderson nodded, seeming a bit more enthusiastic with that in mind. Shepard was right after all, someone like Udina would just let the same thing happen again, and they might not be so lucky a next time. He might have to deal with paperwork and a bunch of in-fighting, but at least then he might be able to do some good. Certainly more good than he was doing now, forced to sit back and twiddle his thumbs.

"Then, in light of Shepard's recommendation, we gladly welcome David Anderson as the Council representative of Humanity." The Salarian spoke up, the three council members had politely waited for the matter to be sorted out before continuing.

"Now, we have other matters to attend to." The Turian spoke up, still sounding like he didn't really want to be here. Clearly he hadn't approved of the decision to elect a human representative, but was forced to go along with it thanks to being out voted by his Salarian and Asari counterparts. "We would like to thank the Alliance for its help protecting the Council as well as being a deciding force in destroying Saren's ship, Soveriegn."

"However," The Salarian Councilman continued from there, taking on an irritated tone. "We do not approve of the secrecy you kept for these "Super Weapons." We understand that there is some amount of secrecy for developmental purposes, but these machines are far too powerful to let run around unchecked."

"I know the Weissy is super and all, but she's hardly a Super Robot..." Excellen commented, shrugging to herself. Once again, many eyes of other people assembled turned to glare at her. "Kyosuke, they're scaring me." She said fearfully, wrapping both her arms around said man's arm.

"Believe me, you are far scarier than any of them," Kyosuke stated, suddenly regretting it as he saw the mischievous look on his partner's face.

"Scary am I? I guess I'll have to start decorating Weissy with the skulls of our dead enemies now." The blonde commented ominously.

"Would you two please stop talking?" The Asari Councilwoman asked bluntly, causing Both Personal Trooper pilots to immediately stand straight. "How is it that these three became your pilots for these weapons? They lack the professionalism I would expect for handling weapons of that caliber."

"One would think they would run wild if given the opportunity." Added the Turian councilman, shaking his head. They waited for the Alliance to explain themselves, but it didn't seem like anyone present intended to do so. Many of them, in fact, seemed to simply be confused.

At least until another human strolled through the crowd watching from afar into the small circle that comprised the meeting itself, with a few soldiers in tow. His uniform was probably the most decorated of all the humans in the room, and the man they belonged to held himself in a very dignified manner.

"Sorry I'm late, but there were a few things I needed to take care of personally." He apologized, his tone indicating it was mostly out of formallity than sincerity. Several of the people in the room were surprised to see him there, particularly the Ambassador. Udina seemed to be on the verge of having another panic attack.

"How nice of you to join us, Admiral Hackett. It's a surprise to see you off your ship." The Asari council member greeted. "We were just discussing the problems with your new weapons."

"Ah, them. Yes." The Admiral nodded, coughing into his hand before addressing the issue. "We would like to apologize for the lack of notice. One of our companies on a nearby colony developed them in secret, and were running performance tests in the area when the attack happened. Suffice to say, they performed excellently."

"Eh?" Excellen blinked in surprise, about to comment when Kyosuke lightly bumped her with his arm and a slight shake of his head. The blonde got the point, wondering what he was planning on doing, and kept quiet.

"And the pilots?" The Salarian councilmen asked, not entirely convinced. The situation felt far too convenient to be the truth.

"They are test pilots. Obviously." Hackett stated simply. "They are not technically part of the Alliance. I plan to change that, however, starting now. If you'll excuse us, I have some new recruits to debrief."

The Admiral signaled for the three pilots and Commander Shepard to follow, leaving a very confused assembly.

"You alright Udina? You look redder than a tomato." Anderson commented, trying to hold back his smile.

"I. Am. Fine. Councilman Anderson."

(-)

"Why is he interrogating Kyosuke..." The blonde woman whined, looking at the metal door longingly. "It's not fair...I want to interrogate him."

"Ms. Excel, I don't think what you are talking about is interrogation." The serious woman stated, sighing briefly after. She honestly wondered sometimes why she stayed with this group.

"Are you two always like this?" The only other person present asked, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall. He was honestly confused as to why the Admiral brought him along as well. He could have had anyone watch these two, but the Admiral had asked him do it. He really had more important things to do. It was a critical time, with no way of knowing when the next move from the reapers would come.

"Hmmm..." The excitable woman paused, tapping a finger to her lips in thought. "Yup, probably. Although she has been getting better, Lami has always been a serious type. Which is sad because she should really flaunt her assets more often."

"...Right." The man paused, glancing between the two. "If you didn't know, I'm Commander John Shepard."

"Ahah, I'm Lieutenant Excellen Browning, and this is my fellow squad member, Lamia Loveless." The woman turned, looking at the door again. "And the one in there is Lieutenant Kyosuke Nanbu, the leader of our squad."

"I wasn't aware Test Pilots had squad ranks." Shepard raised an eyebrow. That was interesting, and he had gotten the feeling not everything was as Hackett had said. Especially since he was currently interrogating one of them. All he'd figured out was that while he had been busy playing tag with Saren's hijacked metallic skeleton, or whatever the hell it was that Sovereign had done to him, these three had shown up with some kind of super-weapons and saved the Council. Which, he supposed, was a good thing. He didn't like letting people die when he didn't have to, and from what he picked up they had definitely turned the tide along with the other Alliance ships.

A moment passed, Excellen staring longingly once more at the closed door of the interrogation room, before Shepard spoke up again. "So, I keep hearing about these Super Weapons of yours. Mind telling me a bit about them? Nothing considered classified if you want. Although, Spectre's pretty much have clearance for anything."

"Spectre huh?" The blonde giggled. "Is that some kind of super secret agent?"

"Actually, yeah." Shepard nodded, contemplating that curious comparison. He'd never thought of it that way before, but that's pretty much what they were. Hell, the whole thing with Saren was sort of like those cheesy spy movie vids. Well, except he wasn't Saren's apprentice or anything cliche like that. Oh wait... Damn, wasn't Nihlus trained by Saren before all that happened? And he had sort of been recruited by Nihlus... The commander sighed, resisting the urge to palm his face. Apparently his life was one of those terrible spy vids. "Spectre's work for the council directly, and the council controls Citadel Space. So we get access to a lot of things people involved in specific governments don't."

"Just promise not to use your license to kill on me, okay?" Excellen joked, causing an involuntary twitch of mental anguish from Shepard over the reference to spy cliches. "Anyways, you wanted to know about Weissy and Alt and Angelg?"

"Should we be revealing information abo-" Lamia started to warn, getting interrupted by Excellen waving her off.

"C'mon, Lami, don't tell me you don't want to brag about Angelg." The blonde suggested, causing the other woman to blink in confusion.

"I don't know what you're referring to." She responded, causing Excellen to sigh dramatically before perking up.

"I'll have you acting like a full-fledged member of the squad yet." The blonde proclaimed, before turning back to the slightly amused, but mostly confused, Shepard. "Anyways, Kyosuke pilots Alt, Lamia "Funless" pilots Angelg, and I pilot Weissy. Think of them as... Extra Super-Sized Terminators!"

"Terminators aren't piloted, Ms. Excell." Lamia pointed out.

"Hmmm..." Excellen tapped her finger on her cheek in thought for several moments, before snapping her fingers. "Okay, how about Transformers?"

"Ours do not transform." Lamia pointed out again. "Transformers are also not piloted."

Excellen frowned, scratching her head in further contemplation. Sensing that a drawn-out comedy routine was about to take place, Shepard interrupted.

"Why don't you just tell me what they are?" He prompted. On the one hand their antics were a bit amusing, reminiscent of a few conversations he'd had himself in the past with his team, but he got the feeling this would go on all day if he didn't interrupt. "I've heard only vague details myself."

"Hmmm, okay. They're Personal Troopers, but with a dash of Super Robot thrown in." The blonde surmised, as if those words should immediately explain what she was talking about. Seeing Shepard's uncomprehending expression, she shrugged and re-surmised it more simply. "Big humanoid machines."

Shepard understood that, blinking. He wasn't all that well informed on technology, but even to him that seemed rather complicated. There was a reason tanks used treads, after all.

"Wait, the secret weapons you test pilot are humanoid?" The commander voiced his confusion. "I can't see how useful that would be, wouldn't it be simpler to make an advanced ship of some kind?"

"The Personal Trooper Projects, most notably the Gespenst Series, are capable of multi-terrain combat with minimal modification in order to optimize performance. The designs also allow for a greater degree of offensive and defensive capabilities." Lamia noted, spitting out the information purely from habit. She mentally scolded herself for not considering if she should have mentioned the Gespenst by name or not. Hopefully the name alone wasn't enough to do any harm and the slip shouldn't cause a disaster.

"I see." Shepard nodded. He understood almost none of that, but he thought he got the gist. The name Gespenst was said like a long-used brand name, but it was possible it was just a line of test models that did well. Maybe he'd look into it later, if he managed to remember the name. Every name they brought up so far was rather outlandish, and he had no idea how some of it would actually be spelled. But it was best to keep the conversation going. He was admittedly curious, but mostly he wanted to see if they dropped any other clues. Although they weren't exactly the most tight-lipped of people to be honest. "So, which colony do you come from?"

"Earth!" Excellen exclaimed, not realizing the mistake she had just made. Lamia immediately turned toward her, grabbed onto her shoulders and began shaking.

"What have you done!" The woman yelled, surprising the blonde. This was possibly the first time anyone had seen the green haired woman react in such a way.

"Lamia... That hurts." Excellen winced in response to Lamia's powerful grip. She had forgotten how strong the other woman was. Lamia immediately stopped, quickly removing her hands and hiding them behind her back.

"I'm... Sorry. I lost control of myself." Lamia admitted sheepishly, adverting her eyes in embarrassment.

"Excuse me." the commander interrupted, a more serious expression on his face than before. "But you definitely said Earth. That is no where close to here, and would take a long time to get here without traveling through the Mass Relays. Everything Hackett said was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Eheh... Caught so quickly, it seems. Kyosuke isn't going to be happy about this." Excellen sighed with a nervous smile.

"It was bound to happen eventually. Knowing you, I'm surprised we made it this far," Lamia noted, sighing as well. She was one to talk though, she wasn't very good at hiding anything. It was only the fact that her demeanor was naturally serious that she got away with it.

"Are you really from Earth?" Shepard asked, resting his hand on his pistol. These three could really be spies.

"Now now! No need to be hasty!" Excellen exclaimed, waving her hands to dispel the threatening atmosphere. "Yes, we are from Earth. Just probably not your "Earth.""

(-)

Finally, with everyone concentrating hard on returning home, the space around them began to warp and shift.

"A warp tunnel? This is bad." Gilliam stated, worrying just about everyone. "Since everything wasn't perfect, multiple paths are connected to this one point. However, as long as we continue to focus on our home, we can still make it. Keep moving forward, and make sure not to fall into the side!"

Not everyone understood entirely what it meant, but they did understand one thing. They wouldn't be able to return home if they didn't follow his directions.

"Everyone board the Hiryu Custom or Shirogane while they still can. They are the least likely to get pulled off course." Gilliam instructed, getting back into the cockpit of his black Gespenst and following his own instructions.

The mass of people assembled went about following Gilliam's example, the distortions growing increasingly violent with every passing moment. As the PT's and Super Robots were piling onto their respective ships, however, the space around them seemed to convulse in a sudden seizure. Precisely what was happening was hard to say, much less accurately perceive, but the chaotic results were apparent enough as the intense force scattered everyone about.

"Damn... This is worse than I feared." Gilliam muttered to himself, being one of the few to have safely board before the storm-like behavior had started up. Unfortunately there was little he could do at this point, aside from watch and hope for the best.

The warp swiftly turned into a chaotic mess, the forces at work attempting to shove, pull, and otherwise toss around even the much larger ships.

"Whoa, talk about summer storms showing up fast." Excellen commented, though a bit nervously as she noted her lightweight machine was having increasing difficulty in returning to the relative safety of either ship. "C'mon Weissy, don't give up!"

The winged mech pushed forward slowly, but for every few feet it made towards either ship it seemed to get shoved the same distance in another direction, despite the blonde having upped the power. The others were all having similar difficulties as well, but nobody seemed to be in too much danger of being swept away.

"Having trouble, Lami?" Excellen questioned, noticing the Angelg seemed to be making no progress at all and being freely tossed around by the storm. That was a concern since the Angelg was made of a bit sterner stuff than the Rein Weissritter, not that her Weissy wasn't a powerhouse. In fact, the Angelg was getting perilously close to the edge nearby as it was tossed by her... "Hey, did you get your mech stuck in reverse?"

The pilot of the Angelg didn't respond, or really give an indication of having heard at all. Actually concerned now, the blonde tried to get closer to the silent pilot's mech. Did Lamia hit her head on something? No, the mech wasn't getting thrown around that violently for something like that to happen.

"... Hm?" Kyosuke frowned, looking back after overhearing Excellen's comments over the groups open-channel. The Alteisen had managed to get to the Hiryu Custom quicker than most, largely thanks to it's heavier frame making it easier for it to push against the dimensional forces. He was just about to board when Excellen's comments caught his attention. "Is something wrong with the Angelg?"

"I don't know, and Lami's not answering..." Excellen replied, considering attempting to tow the Angelg if she needed to. She'd managed to stay close enough for that to be possible, at least, and Gilliam's 'stay away from the sides' comment was quickly another thing to worry about.

Then all hell broke loose. The Angelg suddenly shot to life, rocketing towards the extra-turbulent patch that constituted one of the sides of the warp. Excellen cried out in surprise, managing to act in time to grab the Angelg's arm in an attempt to stop whatever it was Lamia was doing now. The attempt failed, as the already struggling Rein Weissritter was unable to deal with the combined pull from the Angelg and the spacial distortions.

"Excellen!" Kyosuke yelled as he swiftly launched himself away from the Hiryu and towards the two, diving into the side after them and vanishing just as quickly.

"Kyosuke, don't!" Gilliam warned to late, several other cries of alarm mimicking him.

(-)

"... And that's all we can remember happening." The blonde finished with a shrug. "So... Uh... I kinda forgot what I was trying to explain half-way through the story..."

"The commander won't be happy with this, Ms. Excell." Lamia noted, having stayed silent during the recalling of the events that had brought them here. She hadn't intended to cause things to go the way they had, meaning to simply get swallowed up alone. But since that was the way things were, there was no point in dwelling on it.

The commander shook his head in a mix of skepticism, amusement, and a touch of acceptance. It was a really far-fetched story, but he honestly wasn't in much of a position to call someone out on something like that. He'd just uncovered a galaxy-wide plot spanning who-knows-how-long involving a bunch of evil sentient space ships that harvest all life in the universe like a farmer would harvest corn, and then kicked one of their asses. So with that in mind, he attempted to take as much of it as possible at face value. He was still going to be on the look out for anything that seemed suspicious, though honestly what about them wasn't, but he didn't see the point in calling them out on it for now.

"Well, I can't say that's not one of the more ridiculous things I've heard." The commander commented after he thought for a moment. "But seeing as we just determined I'm the protagonist of a bad Spy Vid, I think I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Besides, it'll make Hackett happy to know you aren't some random terrorist group with absurd funding trying to take over the galaxy."

"See a lot of those?" Excellen quipped curiously.

"Every time I go outside." The commander sighed.

The door to the interrogation room opened then, interrupting any further discussion as Kyosuke and the admiral joined them in the waiting room. Curiously, the male pilot seemed to be utterly unfazed, while Hackett seemed well on his way to giving Udina a run for his money in established a new shade of red.

"Any luck, Admiral?" Shepard asked, managing to keep from giving away the fact that it was clear the Admiral hadn't had any.

"No, I'm afraid not." Hackett muttered with a sigh, giving the brown-haired pilot a short glare before motioning towards Excellen. "I'll have to question the other two as well."

"Oooh, Kyosuke, what's it like?" The blonde asked excitedly. "Does he have all sorts of evil devices in there to torture people with?"

"No." Kyosuke responded simply, the short statement causing an involuntary twitch in Hackett's eye to start.

Shepard regarded the situation curiously. From his experiences, Hackett was a well tempered man, not prone to fits of anger like Udina was. Seeing him now though, you'd hardly know it. Well, it wouldn't do to make the man suffer any further grief. Especially since he was fairly sure the blonde would cause far more than the man apparently had. "I don't think that will be necessary, Admiral. They told me enough to trust they don't mean any harm, at least for now."

"... I see." Hackett seemed visibly relieved, calming down as his skin returned to a more normal shade. He coughed into his hand, seeming to realize he hadn't precisely kept his composure, and turned to leave. "Compile what you've learned, if you wouldn't mind, and send it to me. In the meantime, there is a lot that still needs to be taken care of."

The Admiral quickly departed, Shepard turning his attention to the recently interrogated male of the three "Test Pilots" with a cocked eyebrow. "Played the yes-no game?"

"Yes." Kyosuke replied, smirking a little and provoking a helpless shake of his head from Shepard. The commander didn't quite agree with insubordinate behavior like that, but military politics sometimes deserved it. Although people like Hackett tended to get the brunt of it, despite not being the one demanding someone be executed at the slightest issue. The brown-haired pilot tilted his head in Excellen's direction after a moment, speaking up again. "You told him?"

"No! Lamia did it!" Excellen shook her head, denying the accusation a bit too enthusiastically.

"Lamia?" Kyosuke checked for confirmation.

"No, sir." The green-haired woman shook her head calmly.

"I see." Kyosuke, having stayed eerily calm throughout the entire exchange, paused for a moment. The squad commander then suddenly, in a single smooth motion, scooped up the surprised blonde and tossed her over his shoulder as he heading into the interrogation room.

"Nooo, Kyo-chan!" Excellen cried dramatically, waving her arms around before the door slammed shut behind them.

"Ah... Lieutenant Kyosuke, I don't think they would allow..." Lamia spoke up, trailing off midway through and simply shaking her head.

Shepard blinked in surprise, unsure what was going on. He hadn't really been able to get a feel for the man's personality, so he wasn't sure if this was something he should interfere in or not. He decided that, as the stable-seeming woman who was still in the room with him didn't seem alarmed, it was unlikely to something he'd feel the need to put a stop to.

After a few seconds of continuing to stare at the door in confusion, Shepard coughed into his hand. "Seeing as it is unlikely they will be coming out of there any time soon, how about you show me these Personal Troopers you two had mentioned."

"I don't think I should, unless Lieutenant Kyosuke gives the affirmative." Lamia stated, glancing once more at the door. Getting that any time soon was doubtful. They were in unknown territory and both lieutenants seemed to be fooling around, despite the situation calling for serious thought and considerations as to what they should do. What she wouldn't give for some professionalism.

"If forgot, I am a spectre. Not to be rude, but I don't really need to be allowed to. So, I'd like you to show me these 'Personal Troopers'." The commander stated, clarifying that it was less a question and more a demand. "In return, I'll give you a tour of the Citadel later, if you'd like."

Lamia paused, glancing at the silent interrogation room once more in the hope that either of her superiors would reemerge. Unfortunately it didn't seem like that was meant to be, and she sighed in defeat. "Understood. They're in a holding hanger this way, if I remember." The green-haired woman stated, beginning to walk off down the halls with Shepard close behind.

(-)

Shepard whistled in appreciation as he looked at the three large machines. That other girl wasn't joking when she said humanoid robots. They really were shaped like humans, especially the one that seemed to have angelic wings. He had to wonder about the practicality of those, one of the other machines had bat-like ones as well, but then again for all he knew they were the thrusters somehow.

"And the hands actually work like hands?" The commander asked, noting the detailed appendages in question.

"Yes, they have full motor control." Lamia nodded, tilting her head ever slightly as she noted what seemed to be guards stationed to protect the PT's. They seemed to be doing something, but she couldn't quite tell what. "What are they doing?"

Shepard blinked, turning his focus from the machines. It took him a moment to puzzle it out, but his eyes narrowed once he recognized the gel-like substance being placed haphazardly about. Likely they were trying to figure out a way to get the cockpit open.

"Looks like they intend to break in." Shepard informed, pointing out the barely notable slime-like gel. "Omni-Gel. It can open just about anything electrical."

Lamia seemed to puzzle over how gel could open something, noting it for later consideration. At the moment, what was no doubt meant to be a covert attempt to steal their PT's was a higher priority concern. "Lieutenants Kyosuke and Excellen will need to be informed of this."

"They look like Citadel officers. Might be harmless snooping, although it might not. I'll talk to them." Shepard shook his head. This was either a careless case of a few morons, or someone had already gotten wind of these things and managed to set up a theft attempt. The latter was inevitable, but barely any time had passed since they had arrived at all. Regardless, the commander swiftly strode off the observation area and out into the holding bay, Lamia quietly following after him.

One of the officers not scattered about the matenience lifts and preoccupied smearing gel all over the humanoid machines turned when he noticed them approaching, raising a hand in warning. "Sorry sir, this hangar is off limits for the time being."

"I'm sure it is. Which makes why you're trying to open classified technology a bit strange." The commander countered sternly. "Care to explain?"

The officer started to speak, but stopped and tilted his head for a moment, listening to something being said over his helmet's communications. The man nodded swiftly, looking back up at Shepard and Lamia with an ominous change in tone. "Seems like it's not your lucky day."

The officer's hand swiftly darted to his gun, those with him similarly springing into action. Shepard snapped his arm forward, sending the attempt to shoot him in the chest with a pistol harmlessly wide, his other hand grabbing his own gun and slamming it up against the man's chest and pulling the trigger.

The result sent the unfortunate man flying. The commander didn't waste time as he grabbed Lamia, tugging her behind cover with him as the rest started opening fire.

"They always try that." Shepard sighed. "I don't think it's ever worked." The commander took the pistol on his side, handing it to the unarmed woman beside him.

"Should we sound an alarm?" Lamia asked as she analyzed the firearm now in her hands. At least the guns weren't all that different in this universe. She wondered idly where ammunitions were loaded, or if it used ammunition at all.

"Shouldn't be necessary. I've taken out more and tougher soldiers with less help, this shouldn't be an issue." To signify the point, the human spectre shot down one of the fake officers who had attempted to rush them out of cover with his shotgun. "Besides, the alarm should have gone off once the shooting first started. They must have done something to it."

"Understood" Lamia nodded, coming up from her crouch. She quickly took note of all the enemies present, swiftly taking aim and shooting one that hadn't properly taken cover in the leg. The man fell to the floor, completely exposed, as second shot cut his cry of pain and surprise short.

Shepard quirked an eyebrow at the efficient display. He had to admit he was a bit under the impression that the female pilot wouldn't be all that helpful in a firefight when he gave her his pistol. He ducked back under cover as one of the guard impersonators jumped out and pelted their thankfully durable cover with several rounds, Lamia doing so as well.

"You a sharpshooter? Those two shots were spot on, and with a pistol no less." Shepard noted, waiting for his shotgun to finish cooling down. The damn thing could punch a hole in a Geth Dropship, but it could barely go two seconds without overheating.

"No, I wouldn't say that. To be truthful, I am much better at unarmed combat." She said seriously, glancing over the top of their cover.

"You're kidding." The commander said, raising an eyebrow curiously. She didn't look anything like a brawler to him. Even Gunnery Chief Williams was better built than this woman was. When she was alive, anyways.

"I rarely joke, Commander Shepard." The green-haired woman glanced at him, but the comment didn't seem to lessen his skepticism.

"Prove it." The man challenged, holding his hand out for the pistol. This was too tempting to pass up, and was certain he could intervene if things got out of hand. His Biotic abilities were quite useful like that.

"If I must." She sighed, handing him the pistol before looking out at the enemies briefly, determining when an where to strike. Spotting an opening, she quickly sprung up onto the metal crate, launching herself into the air at a surprised foe.

(-)

"Whats done is done, though I hope you'll consider things more carefully next time." Kyosuke stated seriously, moments ago having finished inflicting Excellen's punishment.

"Yes sir!" Excellen chimed with a mock salute, following it with a clownishly overblown bow. The movement elicited a mild wince from the blonde, causing her to complain as she massaged her sore backside. "Owie... Do you have to be so rough, Kyosuke?"

"It wouldn't be punishment then." Kyosuke crossed his arms, the slight smirk on his face betraying his serious-act.

"Meanie." Excellen stuck out her tongue.

"In any case... What do you think of Shepard? Since he knows about us now, we need to decide if we can trust him or not." The ATX Team commander questioned in complete seriousness.

"Hmm.." Excellen pursed her lips in thought. "He's the serious military type, but he seems to be a good guy. I don't think he'd let us blow the place up, but he's not blatantly evil at least."

Kyosuke frowned, considering raising the point that very few of their enemies had been blatantly evil. He decided against it, as that would just be digging up old memories for no reason. "We can't get by completely on our own in this place. If he's trustworthy, we may be able to get him to help us."

"You think we'll ever get back? The System XN was what brought Shadow Mirror to our world, and without it..." The blonde's previously perky attitude had vanished. "Will we see them all again?"

The man grimaced, looking away from his companion. He expected to be put in this situation at some point. Unfortunately he doubted he would ever be able to give a positive answer. "If they were lucky, we won't be seeing them again."

"So, we were unlucky?" She asked as she grabbed his arm, looking up at him for the answer. Kyosuke merely nodded, Excellen smiling in response. "Karma is paying us back it seems."

"No one gets the Jackpot on their first try." Kyosuke shrugged his shoulders.

"That was horrible." The blonde giggled.

"Like your lines are any better."

(-)

Well, this was not going as planned, a man observing the conflict thought to himself. He turned his attention away from the monitor, opening channel they were told to report with if anything went wrong. Normally he might be concerned about being overheard, but he was pretty sure the channel itself was so far down on a layer of signal-criss-crossing and whatever else his boss cooked up to keep himself safe that he was surprised it got any reception at all half the time.

"This is team 46-A, we've run into an issue." He spoke, pausing long enough to allow for checking which team that was. "Getting the target took longer than anticipated and we were seen. Now there's a shootout going on... Or was, anyways. It seems the rest of the team is literally being thrown around now."

He paused to allow some questions to be asked before continuing.

"Two, one of them I think is Shepard. Yeah, that Shepard. The other one is one of the supposed pilots you informed us about. She's the one currently throwing the team around. No, not with biotics. She's using her hands. Aaaand her feet. Wow, I don't think Kessler's getting up any time soon..."

The other end went silent for a bit. He wasn't sure if it was out of speechless surprise, or if the situation was being contemplated. Although he was certain a bit of both was going on either way. After several moments of continued silence he was told what to do, nodding out of habit before remembing to confirm vocally.

"Yes sir, I'll pull out and try to handle covering up the situation as best we can." He cut the channel as soon as he finished, rubbing his forehead in exhasperation. He really hoped the backup plan worked out. His boss wasn't insane or anything, but he really didn't appreciate failing to complete an assignment. Especially one this important. He'd rather not be on whatever hellish projects the guy could cook up just to serve as an example for the next few years.

However, he soon realized that he may not even get the chance for even that, as voices worryingly close to him suddenly caught his attention.

"Kyosuke! I think we're lost!" A blonde woman exclaimed as she entered the room, turning to her companion with a distraught expression. The man with her regarded the room for a moment before responding.

"Didn't you say you knew where you were going? I was just following you." Kyosuke said, looking back into the hall they had came from.

"I thought I did... Hey, let's ask that guy!" Excellen commented in her bubbly way as she practically skipped over to the other man. Said man went back to watching the screen, hoping to try not to appear too suspicious. Unfortunately for him, he completely forgot what was currently on the screen he was watching.

"Oh wow! I didn't realize Lami was that strong!" She exclaimed in surprise as she looked over the poor agent's shoulder. He flinched, backing away from the woman, bumping into her companion by mistake.

"Umm, yeah! It truly is amazing! She's got the strength of a Krogan!" The man laughed nervously, stopping abruptly when he didn't see either of them laughing.

"If you know what is happening, why haven't the alarms sounded yet?" Kyosuke asked coolly, clearly suspicious. He crossed his arms over his chest, giving off an impatient look as he waited for a response.

"That's strange... This other screen shows the same place, but nothing is happening." Excellen pointed at a different monitor. Kyosuke immediately grabbed the man by the shoulder, roughly slamming his fist into the man's gut. The man grunted, clutching his stomach in pain as all the air was shoved out of his lungs, leaning over automatically in time to catch the knee rushing up to his face.

"Oh! Darn, I was looking forward to messing with him some more." The blonde pouted as the man collapsed on the floor, glancing back at the screen showing the actual events taking place. "At least we know Lami can handle herself."

(-)

"Anyone care to explain how an attempted robbery managed to go unnoticed by anyone actually paid to notice it?" Hackett asked rhetorically as he entered the room, irritated at the risk presented to their newest asset and the damage done to the hangar. Since then they'd been forced to load the three machines and their pilots onto his ship for safety, as it was easier to keep their location secret aboard a moving vessel. Truth be told the situation hadn't been that bad to really warrant it, but it was more an issue of appearance and politics than anything else.

"Relax, Admiral." Anderson responded, attempting to head off any arguments as the ever "fashionably late" Admiral took his seat. The atmosphere was already tense enough with everything that had happened, it'd be too easy for the people assembled in the room with him to spark a fire. "Those responsible were captured, and are being interrogated as we speak. I'm more concerned with how they even knew what was there to steal, than the attempt itself."

"Yes, that is rather troublesome." Another Alliance Admiral nodded, clucking his tongue in disapproval. "It's clear your security isn't as "secure" as it should be, if the information was leaked so accurately already."

"My security?" Hackett scoffed. "Those things were floating around the Citadel in plain sight for half the battle. Blocking that information out entirely would be impossible."

"Moving on to why we're actually here," Anderson interrupted, making it clear the topic was to be dropped for now. A few of the people assembled seemed like they were going to speak, seeming irritated that Anderson was steering things so narrowly, before remembering his recent promotion and the weight that granted him. "These new machines, and their pilots, have come out of nowhere as far as anyone I've asked can tell. Hackett's got the rest of the galaxy assured they're ours, but either none of us have clearance to such a thing, or something else is going on."

"Ultimately irrelevant." Someone shrugged. "The pilots are human, and from our preliminary looks into the machines, they're made with methods very similar to what we've used in the past. Information suggests the communications they used was old radio technology, for one. The only thing we should concern ourselves with is who gets to make use of these new assets in the meantime, until the technology can be properly replicated."

"Hmph. It seems obvious they should be sent to R&D and disassembled." Another commented, clearly not a military official like many of the others gathered for the meeting. "The designs themselves seem to be inefficient from a glance, though reports on performance certainly seem impressive. The technology is what's important."

"Now hold on." Hackett spoke up, getting several supporting murmurs from other admirals. "If you take those things apart, it might be years before anything comes of it. Better to examine them as best you can without turning them into useless scrap, so they can actually be used."

"Hmmm..." One of the other admirals hummed in thought. "What of those pilots? It would be difficult to train new ones when we don't know how it works ourselves, but I don't think we can trust them yet. Who knows who they work for."

Anderson sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He just knew this would steer this direction. They'd all bicker for the next hour, give up and argue randomly for the next week straight, before anything got done. Which was why he was glad he'd taken the liberty of informing a certain someone who was good at stopping that kind of stuff cold.

"Now, I'm not much of a politician," The familiar voice, followed by presence, of Shepard commented as the heroic spectre unceremoniously entered the room. "But wouldn't the future of three pilots and their equipment be something they should have a say in?"

The commander leaned against the wall by the door as the three pilots followed in after him, for the most part stoically. The blonde, as usual, was the odd one out as she cheerfully tossed out a casual addition.

"Otherwise, we might run away. We can do that, you know. Weissy is quite good at it." Excellen giggled, the taunt-threat rilling up a few of those seated.

"What is the meaning o-" One of the Admirals growled, only to be cut off by Anderson.

"As it so happens, I called them here." The human council member informed, poorly disguising his amusement. The previous Admiral glared at the councilman, not even attempting to finish his statement.

"Anderson, we appreciate what you have done for the Alliance all these years, but bringing outsiders to an important meeting like this is against regulations." Hackett sighed, though he didn't seem as angry as many of his fellow Admirals.

"Hackett, don't you remember? I'm a council member now. I did as I felt was right, and I don't think the council will agree with keeping these weapons a complete secret." Anderson reminded, smiling confidently. Had Udina been made councilman, the admirals would have probably had their way in the end. Knowing some of them, not all of those uses would have been for pleasant things. Tough luck, though, since that wasn't going to happen if he could help it. He turned his attention to the meeting as a whole, continuing in a chastising tone. "Did you even consider asking if they would work for the Alliance? Did you think that they wouldn't have schematics for their machinery?"

Some of the other admirals looked away, refusing to considering the option. Hackett didn't, responding with a weary shrug. "I had asked, but I hadn't gotten an answer."

"That's what you get for trying to interrogate Kyosuke." Excellen grinned, patting said man on the shoulder. "He just says yes or no."

"Maybe." Kyosuke added, the blonde sticking her tongue out at him in response for it. Hackett rubbed his temples, trying to keep himself from getting annoyed again. Too much was happening too quickly, and he couldn't keep up.

"So what do you suggest?" The admiral asked.

"You could bring them into the Alliance and allow them to keep their machines." Shepard suggested. "I'm sure they'd be willing to share what technology they have, as long as you don't take them apart."

"That seems reasonable enough." Hackett nodded, scratching his chin in thought.

"However," Anderson started, catching everybody's attention again. "I doubt the council will allow you to keep this project without having an eye on it. I suggest they be put under the command of a Spectre, while they are being researched. That way we keep the council satisfied, and we can see exactly what they can do."

"So we leave them to Commander Shepard?" One of the admirals offered, quite pleased with the way it was going. With Shepard in charge, the machines were still in human hands.

"Unfortunately no." Anderson said, knowing that's exactly where this conversation would head. "Shepard has his own mission to take care of, and it wouldn't serve the Council's wishes to leave all of them with him."

"So that means..." The previously content admiral deflated quite quickly as he realized the full implications of Anderson's statement.

"Yes, we'd have to get a non-human spectre assigned from the council." The newly elected councilman nodded, turning his attention to the three pilots. "Do you guys have a problem with this?"

The two women automatically deferred to Kyosuke to start with, who was silent for a moment as he thought the offer over.

"It would be the best option, given the circumstances..." The stoic man nodded, Shepard being the only one who understood the actual meaning behind that comment. "... But I don't trust you just yet. We'll see."

Lamia nodded in agreement with Kyosuke's assessment, signalling that she echoed his sentiments.

"Well," Excellen clapped her hands together cheerfully. "Since Kyo-chan and Lami are okay with it, so am I. Let's just try to not pull anything sneaky, alright?"

"You're the sneakiest person here." Kyosuke commented, causing Excellen to stick her tongue out at him again in response.

"Excellent." Anderson nodded, managing to mostly contain his sigh of relief. Had the three refused, likely because of the crap the Alliance had already pulled in the short time they'd been here, he doubted he'd have been able to keep someone from getting shot. Though considering what he'd heard from Shepard, he was sure it wouldn't be any of the pilots. "Then that wraps up all the important details. We'll see about getting all the proper paperwork done later."

The veteran shuddered despite himself at the mention of paperwork, pausing to think for a moment before continuing. "We'll see about setting up accommodations and who needs you the most. We'll let you know where you'll be going once we sort everything out."

"I'd like to suggest something, if I may, about that." Shepard interjected suddenly, causing Anderson and several others to quirk an eyebrow in curiosity. Usually when Shepard made comments like that, it was really good or really bad - Depending on which side of the result you were on. "I'd like one of the pilots to become a crew member on the Normandy. As you have already realized, they're a very valuable weapon. I'll admit I'm curious myself, but I could use something with that kind of firepower while dealing with the Reapers and the Geth."

"Hm, you have a good point." Anderson acknowledged, mulling it over. He'd probably get a lot of flack for playing favorites, from both the other admirals and the council in fact, but what the commander said was true. Who could use these things more than him? Any verdict was put on hold, however, as the blonde pilot interrupted.

"No way, you want to split us up?" Excellen shook her head vigorously. "We're a team! Plus-"

Kyosuke cut off the oncoming rambling from his teammate, shaking his head. "Calm down, Excellen."

"But Kyo-chan..." The blonde pouted, looking at him hopefuly.

"I know." Kyosuke nodded slightly, turning to their so-far silent green haired companion. "Lamia. Can you go with Shepard?"

"If you wish." The woman nodded.

"I'm betting pretty big on you, Shepard." The ATX leader turned his attention to the commander, giving him a look that clearly was meant to serve as a warning promising the man much torment should his trust be broken.

"I understand." Shepard nodded solemnly. Being a commander of a crew himself, he understood the sentiments. Although he had no idea how long the three had been grouped up, his crew hadn't been together all that long and he still felt that way. In any case, it hardly mattered since he had no intentions of losing anyone on his team if he could help it. "She'll probably pull me out of the fire more often than the other way around, I imagine."

"Now then, since that's all worked out..." Hackett commented as he got up, honestly tired from the days events. First the battle for the Citadel, and then dealing with these new comers and their chaos. Although it was just briefly, he wondered if he was getting to old for all this trouble that cropped up at every turn. "It looks like this meeting is over. Ah, before I go, Councilman Anderson, I'd like to go over the full details of this agreement with you later, if you don't mind."

That said, the Admiral left and everyone else followed soon after.

(-)

"Commander, it's amazing that we're actually getting one of those super robots... But we don't really have room for it in the Normandy." Joker stated, looking at the Angelic Super Robot as he leaned against the railing. Normally he'd just watch from the Normandy, but this was too awesome for him to settle for that. The machines pilot was currently in the cockpit, doing some kind of calibrations... Or at least he assumed as much.

"What about the cargo hold? Surely it's large enough." Shepard suggested. The Normandy wasn't a particularly large ship, but it should be capable of holding the Angelg at least. Deploying it might be a bit tricky, but they'd work that out later.

"Sure, if it was empty." The pilot nodded. "But it isn't."

"Then dump the Mako into space. I don't think anyone would care." Shepard shrugged casually, completely unconcerned.. It didn't seem like a big deal despite how useful the Mako was, not to mention how much the thing cost. Although the Angelg more than made up the difference.

"Really?" Joker blinked in surprise.

"Yes. Now do it."

"Commander, I really don't think that's a good idea? What will we use for terrain missions?" The Normandy pilot asked. Shepard only glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest in an intimidating fashion. "Oh right. 'Never again. Next time we attack a crime lord's base, we bomb it from orbit.' Got it."

"Damn right." The Spectre nodded as he relaxed, satisfied that Joker remembered. A two-hour trip just to get the thing up a tricky slope, followed by traps and possibly the longest shootout he could remember? Yeah, he wasn't going to put up with that a second time.

"But what about when you helped Wrex out by getting back that battle armor heirloom?"

"Much good that did. Wrex wouldn't back down at Virmire." Shepard sighed. It was probably one of the few things he regretted having to do, but the mission came first. The mission always came first. It was what he was taught, and what he lived by. Making exceptions would cause problems further down the road, and once the Krogan Battlemaster pulled a gun on him he had no choice. "Besides, we have another heavy hitter now."

"I'm sure this Mech packs quite a punch, Commander, but come on! We can't use this thing for every mission. Wrex was our toughest member. He even outclassed most other Krogan's."

"I wasn't talking about the robot." The commander corrected.

"Shepard, you've got to be kidding me. There's no way!" Joker was completely baffled. Was this the same woman they were talking about? She looked like an absolutely normal human being. Well, not that normal. She was definitely more than _average_.

"She literally threw people around with her bare hands. No Biotics at all. I was skeptical myself, until I saw it first hand." Shepard informed, still having a bit of trouble accepting that the green haired woman had pulled off what she did. Although, if he thought about it,with all the implants and enhancements out there it wasn't too impossible.

"I think I should start learning to expect the impossible." The pilot chuckled, carefully pushing off the railing he was leaning against and beginning to limp away. "I'll go ahead and deal with getting rid of the Mako. I don't know if Garrus and Tali will be happy though, they just started to repair it after you almost totaled it on the Citadel."

"They'll just have to deal with it." The Spectre shook his head looking back to the giant robot that was going to be on his ship. "Angelg huh? Fitting name for something that will help save the galaxy."

(-)

The three members of the ATX team, along with Shepard, had gathered outside the docked Normandy. For the most part, the parting farewell had been without incident. Well, mostly, since a certain someone had decided to throw things way out of proportion.

"Lami-chan! I don't want you to leave!" The blonde woman cried out, squeezing the other woman tightly in her arms, pointing at the Spectre Commander with a growl. "She's mine! You can't have her!"

"I see. If that's how you feel, I'll have to go with the commander instead." The brown haired man stated completely seriously, turning to Shepard. "Do you have time to switch out the Angelg for the Alt?"

Excellen paused, wearing a worried expression. Her ponytail flipped around as she turned her head back and forth between the two, clearly torn. Ultimately, she was left with one choice, immediately flinging herself and latching onto her partner in crime. "No! Kyosuke!"

"Are you done fooling around?" Kyosuke asked, not entirely without sympathy. The blonde nodded, still holding onto his arm but turning down the dramatics as she turned back to the soon-to-be-departing Lamia.

"We'll miss you, Lami. Make sure to call, okay?" Excellen said, considerably more cheerfully. She wasn't happy with it, but it wasn't as end-of-the-world as she had been pretending.

"I shall miss you as well." Lamia returned the gesture, though she did mean it.

"I'll try to make sure you can contact each other, at least when we're not on a mission." Shepard offered, jerking his thumb towards the ship. "Anyways, we should head out. Someone should be along to gather you two in a bit anyways."

"Farewell, Lieutenant Kyosuke, Lieutenant Excellen." Lamia nodded towards each of them, following Shepard onto the Normandy.

"Make sure to eat your veggies!" Excellen called after as the door sealed shut, waving goodbye enthusiastically. The blonde turned her attention back to Kyosuke, who she was still clinging to, with a dramatic sniffle. "They grow up so fast."

"We're old now." Kyosuke nodded in agreement.

"Noooooo..." Excellen wailed dramatically, unable to stop herself from breaking down into a small series of giggles soon after. "Don't worry Kyo-Chan, we can still have fun."

The sound of footsteps interrupted them, turning to find the source was a heavily armored Asari woman. They hadn't exactly seen many of the blue aliens, although that might not be accurate since they had come across a few different colored ones, but all of them so far seemed to be women.

"I was told I'd find you here." The Asari greeted, halting a few feet away once they'd noticed her and jerking her thumb back the way she came. "I'd go through all the pleasantries, but we're running a bit late as-is. That attack messed just about everything up, so we're still scattered about."

"Late for what?" Excellen asked curiously, unaware they had anywhere to be.

"Great, they didn't tell you." The Asari sighed, shaking her head. "You've been assigned last-minute to come on a mission with me, which needed to leave about five minutes ago. Hopefully those machines of yours didn't cause too much loading trouble... Last I heard they were still puzzling over how to set them up so they didn't go flying all over the place."

"No rest for the weary, huh Kyo-chan?" Excellen gave a small sigh. She'd hoped to have been able to relax for a bit before anything like this came up.

"You'd get bored anyways." Kyosuke replied with a shrug.

"Right, we can chit-chat once we get going." The Asari stated, sounding slightly impatient as she lead the way. As an afterthought, she added a simple introduction. "I'm Spectre Vasir, by the way."

(-)

"Where the hell are Lt. Kyosuke and Lt. Excellen?" A male voice questioned, mostly rhetorically. The giant white tiger styled robot's head turned left and right, searching for any signs of anyone else. Unfortunately, there was nothing but stars in the distance, and a planet nearby. A planet that was definitely not Earth.

"Bullet, I think the real question is, where are we?" A female voice pointed out.

"We weren't that far behind were we? How could we have lost them so quickly?" Brooklyn "Bullet" Luckfield sighed in disappointment. "Sorry about this Kusuha, I shouldn't have jumped in after them."

"It's alright, Bullet." Kusuha Mizuha said. "I would have done the same thing."

"Thanks." Bullet paused to think for a moment. "So, where do we go from here? We have no clue where we are..."

"We should probably go to that planet, with all the lights. There has to be some kind of civilization down there." Kusuha suggested.

"Right. That would be best, wouldn't it?" Bullet chuckled to himself nervously. She had a good point, even though it was a pretty obvious one. They wouldn't last long just wandering around out in space anyways... They were actually quite lucky to end up as close to something as they had. Still, this was not looking like it'd be a good day. Or week. Maybe even month.

(-)

AN:

JSB: And there you have it, the first chapter of this incredibly strange crossover fic. Dear god are we crazy. Oh well. We enjoy this.

Xero: The terrible part is the crazy has only just begun! Wait, that's not terrible, that's _awesome_.


End file.
